In Korea, there are many popular foods made or flavored with green tea. This green tea ice cream is one of them. You may already know that green tea is very healthy in many points. If you make ice cream at home with some green tea, it will be healthier and still taste delicious. I made this recipe especially for people who don’t have an ice cream machine like me. The mixture is frozen without using a machine. It will be icier than store bought ice cream, but I actually prefer that kind of texture for my ice cream. If you have an ice cream machine, you can use it too. I am very happy about the result, so I am excited to share this recipe with you. 🙂
Yield: 1 Quart
Short Korean Lesson
- NokCha (녹차) = Green Tea
- WuYou (우유) = Milk
Video Instructions
Main Ingredients
- 2 tsp Green Tea Powder
- 1 Container Half and Half (473 ml)
- 4 Egg Yolks
- ½ Cup Sugar
Directions
In a bowl, add 4 egg yolks and about ¼ cup of half and half from the container (473 ml). Mix well.
In a nonstick pan, add the egg mixture and boil for about 10 minutes on low. This process just makes it safe to eat the egg, so you don’t want to cook the egg yoke too much – make sure you keep the temperature low. Occasionally stir it.
Meanwhile mix 2 tsp of green tea powder and ½ cup of sugar together.
This will help the powder to mix better in the ice cream mixture later.
After 10 minutes, turn off the heat and add the green tea mixture. Stir it well until the sugar dissolves with the heat from the pan.
Pour the green tea mixture into the rest of the half and half from the container (473 ml).
Pour the ice cream mixture into the container. It is good to use a bowl that has a wide bottom with a lid. Mine was a Pyrex storage bowl. Put it in the freezer for about 3 hours.
After 3 hours, mix the ice cream, and press it back down flat before you put it back into the freezer.
Every hour, repeat this process for at least 4 times. It will make your ice cream softer.
Depending on your green tea powder, the color and taste can be slightly different. You can buy the green tea powder from Amazon.com. I will add some links for you here. 🙂 Try this tasty homemade green tea ice cream someday. 🙂
This looks really good.
Do you have a favorite brand of green tea powder?
hi Karrie,
I used a Korean brand that I ordered from Korea.(Since I didn’t know that I can find it here. I’m going to try some brand from Amazon next time.
Is it possible to process green tea from a tea bag further in a blender/food processor if I don’t have the powder?
hi subaksandy,
I was going to try it from tea bag too actually..because I thought that some people might have problem to find green tea powder..but what I quested was.. the quality of green tea in a tea bag.. when you buy good green tea powder.. the color is very good green color and the taste is good.. which makes your green tea ice cream taste great… you can try..but the green tea should be well dried..and you have to grind them very very fine.. the color might not be that good.. sorry for poor answer..
Hi! I’m from Malaysia and I never heard of the ingredient Half and Half and I don’t think I can buy it here in Malaysia. Do you have any suggestions on other ingredients that can replace it? Thanks a lot! I really like your blog!
hello! you can replace it with normal whipping cream which u can find in m’sia.
subaksandy, Unfortunatleyit isn the samething, green tea powder is made of a super premuim tea leaf, plus its processed a special way..
Great recipe. I used it in my ice cream maker. I added a 1/2 cup milk and 1/4 cup fat-free powdered milk, and I made gelato instead of ice cream.
hi zack,
good job ^^ thanks
This looks dangerous! 😀 I’m afraid to try it before I finish losing the last three kilos of baby weight (my daughter is seven months old). You’re very lucky to already make doughnuts and ice cream with such a young baby.
hi Katharine in Brussels,
Yes, I understand what you mean.. this recipe will be here for a long time.. so maybe in the future..when you feel safer to eat this for your diet.. try it.. how about that ?? hehe.. 😉 thanks
Kathrine, I use fat-free half/half, haha, so the only calories come from the egg yolks & sugar. =)
I really love your blog. very easy to cook and so clear.
for this green tea ice cream, what to substitute the half and half?
thanks 🙂
hi Oviana,
Thanks ^^
You can mix half of milk and half of whipping cream for it. 🙂
ocha ice cream!!! my fave 🙂 i have a ice cream maker at home and i am going to try this but first i need to buy green tea power ( i’ve the leaves ones and just finished off my powder’s)….in the meantime, i just have to content with drooling, kkkkk
hi aeri 🙂 thank you for sharing this recipe! i made it and it turned out really good! i was just wondering though, what does the egg yoke do to the mixture?
hi erin,
I think it’s mainly for the taste. 🙂
i like green tea however i’m still not convinced that its as health giving as many say. I suppose many of the positive aspects of tea could be overcome by the very fact that it contains caffeine which surely can’t have a positive result on health.
Having said that i simply drink the quality stuff from the baggage therefore maybe the upper quality tea would do me additional good.
Don’t you think that the “craving” you get is simply an addiction to caffeine kicking in? I know the identical factor happens to me.
Oh, don’t worry about the caffeine content. It’s way too low to ‘outweigh’ benefits of the tea overall. If you’re worried about the caffeine, then just drink it before 3pm? And add some honey; honey’s probably one of the best things you can put into your body so maybe that’ll help balance things out.
Green tea actually makes me sort of drowsy, to be honest. Very relaxing and healing and soothing. :3
언니! 안녕하세요? I LOVE your recipes! I’ve tried so many other cookbooks and other websites, but I always come back to your recipes because they taste the best. Cookbook 만드세요~ I keep telling all my friends about your website because I love it so much. 요리책 만들고 싶으시면 제가 도와 드릴게요…저는 재미교포 변호사고 도와줄수 있는만큼 도와드릴게요. 연락해주세요! 🙂 justonelatte@gmail.com
hi Sophia,
안녕하세요. 만나서 반갑습니다. 😀
It’s a real compliment that you like my recipes. Yes, we are working on cookbook to publish now.. just it takes lots of time and effort to finish it.. wow.. I don’t know how you can help me for my cookbook..but I just really appreciate about your kindness. Maybe you can buy my cookbook someday when it is published.. 😉
hi , can i use fresh milk instead half half?
hi dong,
Then your ice cream will be too icy.. even just half and half is a little more icy side than soft ice cream.. so you need some cream.. or half and half.. 😉
Hi Aeri!!!!
I have been trying to think of a way to contact you since I moved to China! I cannot get on Youtube for the life of me!! I found another video website ifoodtv. Do you post your videos there too? I do not think I can go a year or 2 without watching your videos!! HaHa! How is the baby is he talking yet? 😀
Rae
hi Rae1968,
So you can’t watch youtube video at all ?? I didn’t post there.. I just let people use my youtube video on their sites..just we don’t want.. other sites use my pictures and recipes..^^ anyway.. aha.. so you stay there for 2 years.. oh.. I hope you will come back here soon.. hehe
bryson is talking his own language..and sometimes Korean or American words.. hehe
Say hi to your son ^^
can i replace fresh milk instead half half milk?
hi dong,
Oh.. no you can’t just use milk. If you don’t have half and half.. you can use half amount of milk and half amount of whipping cream. ^^
Aeri! Thank you so much for making this website. I’m American, but since last year I’ve fallen in love with South Korea and want everything I see/do/eat to be as Korean as possible, heh. >_<
Just a note-the 'yolk' in 'egg yolk' is spelled with an 'l.' It doesn't make a difference in pronunciation and English speakers (obviously) still understand you, but that's the right way to spell it if you want to know for the future (a lot of native English-speakers actually think that it's spelled 'yoke,' but that's for animals and doesn't have anything to do with eggs). :3 Your English is incredible, by the way..how long have you been speaking it?
Gosh I love your recipes. I tried the fried egg hearts today and my pan was too big, so I have to add more eggs next time. D: Keep up the good work! I look forward to seeing more wonderful recipes and Korean language lessons!
And I’m sorry if my comment on the spelling sounded rude, it’s possible that you just forgot. I didn’t mean to make it sound like you don’t know English, because you honestly speak and write it much better than a lot of people I know in my state. I apologize. ;(
hi Dani,
Nice to meet you. Oh, thank you very much for your correcting my mistake. I always used “yoke” for “egg yolk”..oops.. I have many things to change in my posts. I changed them in this post after I read your comment though. Thanks again. I’m happy to learn it.
I’ve been living in USA for about 3 years. I studied English in Korea. but my English still needs lots of help. hehe anyway.. thanks
Please don’t worry, your comment didn’t sound rude at all. I hope you can teach or correct my mistakes in English more in the future. Have a great day.
Hi Aeri,
I made Green Tea Ice Cream. Family L.O.V.E.D.
Thanks for the easy recipe.
Bennyrondo
hi Bennyrondo,
Good job.. thanks 🙂
My daughter’s college friends like this so much, I’m making more for them tomorrow.^.^
hi Bennyrondo,
hoho.. your daughter will be proud of you. 🙂 thanks
Hi Aeri!
THANK YOU SOO much for this easy recipe! I made it over the weekend and LOVE it! I even blogged about it today – please come visit when you can.
Hope you and cutie Bryson are doing well!
Hana
PS: My Korean blog is still eatyoubap.wordpress.com, but I primarily keep up this blog. 🙂
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hi chicky*bits,
Thanks for your comment. I enjoyed reading your post about it. 🙂 hehe
😀 Hi Miss Aeri it’s Erica Baik here your green tea ice crem looks yummy thanks a lot 4 teaching me this yummy resape & yes i will really try it some day 😀
hi Erica,
^^ Yep.. try it someday. thanks 🙂
Looks yummy! Will try it ^_^
hi Su Jeong,
If you try it someday, pelase let me know how it turned out. ^^
Hello Aeri! I am planning to make this dessert tomorrow – I was wondering if I could substitute the green tea powder for Mugwort powder (ssookgaru). Any advice would be helpful to me! Thank you! 😀
hi thesixthprincess,
Oops, sorry for late reply. I wonder if you tried this recipe with mugwort powder… and if you did.. how it turned out.. ^^:; I’ve never tried it with mugwort powder..but sounds interesting.. thanks
Hi i love your recipe i always try it,i want to ask you what is Container Half and Half??and can i use vanilla instead of green tea
and thank you 😀
hi meme,
Half and half is.. half cream and hal milk.. If you are in USA.. you can buy half and half container from a grocery store. Yes, you can use vanila.. just adjust the amount of vanila in your taste. thanks
It was wonderful, like I buy ice cream thank you so much 😛
Hi Aeri!
This looks soo good!! I want to try it but where i live, it’s hard to get half and half. So is there a way for me to make a half and half? or can i replace the half and half with some other ingredient?
please reply!
thanks alot! 😛![:mrgreen:](png/mrgreen.png)
hi bigbangfotoqueen,
half and half is.. half heavy cream and half milk.. so you can use them… thanks
it came out good but you had to wait a lot of hours 😀
Hi Aeri =]
Love your recipes, but can i replace Half & Half with soymilk? I am vegetarian.
Thanks
Z.C
hi zache,
Sorry, but I think.. soymilk is not good for making ice-cream. I thought some vegetarians eat egg, butter and drink milk… and vegans are more strict for their diet … anyway.. you can’t drink milk ?? sorry for the answer..
Hi Aeri!
I just made green tea ice-cream using your recipe! Now, I am waiting for 3 hours to be up, so I can begin the first mixing. ^^ I’m pretty excited. I hope that it turns out well like yours! :]
This is the next recipe I plan on trying.Unfortunately,I have never seen green tea powder where I live.I guess I might have to try it with another flavor. Thanks for sharing
i am sorry. i dont understand what is the container? is this a milk?
hi marmelad,
Aha, the container is.. half and half.. that is.. half cream and half milk. American grocery stores sell it. If you don’t have, you can mix half amount of heavy cream and half amount of normal milk. thanks
Hi Aeri, could I process my green tea leaves in a blender to make the powder? I bought a can of Chinese green tea and there is too much.
hi Mee Ae,
Sorry but I can’t tell the result with confidence. I don’t know how fine your blender can grind the green tea leaves..and you will not get nice green color like the green tea powder from store.
I tried doing this, the blender doesn’t powderize the tea leaves, so I don’t recommend you to do this (unless you like the texture of the tiny leaves). If you have a “powerdizing machine”, then go ahead. Green tea POWDER (or any other flavored powder) is what you want because it’s fine enough for you to dissolve it in the mixture of this recipe.
I had green tea ice cream in a Japanese restaurant, and it was delicious,I have never found a recipe that has the same delicious taste. I wonder just what spices they used. Was it just powdered green tea like you use, or something else added?
hi Vicki,
I don’t know what kind of icecream you tried in a Japanese restaurant..so can’t tell with confidence..but I think.. you might be satisfied with my green tea icecream too.. maybe you can try and see if you like it. 🙂 hehe.. thanks
Vicki, I’ve also first had this at a Japanese restaurant (that’s why I was so glad when I’ve found Aeri’s site! =). The J-restaurant served it with red bean paste, and there shouldn’t be any spices in it since this is the traditional recipe…unless the restaurant where you had it customized their own recipe. =) Following this recipe to a T (you can use an ice cream machine or freeze it like Aeri) yields green tea ice cream of the same texture & taste. =) Good luck!
Hi Aeri,
Love your website. You make me want to be a better Korean!
Anyway, I have a dumb question for you. Can I just pour the mixture into an ice cream maker? Would that give me the same result? Thanks.
hi Jane,
I don’t have an icecream machine.. so I didn’t try it yet..but I guess it will be even better with ice cream machine.. and save your time and work.. so try it…maybe if you try..please let me know the result..hehe thanks
Jane, yes, I’ve been doing this with my Cuisine Art ice cream maker and it works great. Just 30 min. then smooth ice cream! =) Any leftovers have to be frozen, which will become hard (since we don’t use chemicals to make it soft-serve like the grocery store’s ice cream). So I usually leave it out to thaw while I eat dinner…or when I forget to do that, I just microwave the glass container I use to store my ice cream for about 30-60 seconds to thaw it out a little for easy scooping. =)
i somehow keep over cooking my eggs with half and half. what should i do? 🙁
hi Vanessa,
What temperature did you use for cooking? Use low temperature and keep stir it.. when the mixture just start to turn to pale yellow color.. stop cooking.. Hope this will help you a little. thanks
I used the lowest fire I could possibly use. I redid it about 3 times but in the end, I succeeded! But at the end, the ice cream came out to be too icy since I only had one carton of half and half and used some of it in the first 3 trials. I will continue to use this recipe for for future.Thank you for posting! 🙂
Vanessa, I accidentally put my level a bit too high twice now (I’ve done this recipe like 6 times total) and what I’ve found is that when the eggs kind of start cooking (like scrambled eggs), I can still use it! =) Sounds disgusting, but the texture is smoother (ironic, I know) and I get more compliments with this than the “normal” way of the liquidy egg-yolk mixture. I’m tempted to keep doing it this way, haha.
This comment was a while back
Next time, follow the instructions:
After 10 minutes, turn off the heat and add the green tea mixture. Stir it well until the sugar dissolves with the heat from the pan.
Be careful not to over stir the mixture Good luck!
Thanks for your comment. ^^
I’ve been wanting to try this for a while, but I didn’t have any matcha (green tea powder). I finally was able to find some at one of our local malls. It was a sweet deal to also find Paris Baguette there too. They had some yummy baked goods.
I made this today, but I added bananas to the recipe for a thicker consistency. I’m letting it freeze over night & hope to get a taste tomorrow. Can’t wait! 😀
when i cook the egg mixture it cooks the egg and become scrambled egg
.__. i already use the lowest temperature -__-
Tip:
I’ve been using this recipe to make green tea ice cream about 10 times now. I’ve also tried making gelato, Italian ice cream. Both pretty much use the same method, but gelato uses evaporated milk powder in addition to the other ingredients listed in this recipe. I now add evaporated milk powder to this green tea ice cream recipe and it’s VERY smooth & creamy. =)
Can I ask how much evaporated milk you use? Thanks!
hi Elle,
Sorry but I didn’t use evaporated milk.. I used milk and whipping cream for this ice cream. ^^:
Hallo aeri.
Oeps i also wanted to ask what the half and half was but then i saw it in on of the reactions.
So now i just want to say that i love youre site and cooking.Next week im also trying this ice cream.
greetings from domenique.
I will definitely try to make it later. Thank you for the recipe.
hi arya,
You are more than welcome. Thanks. 🙂
Can u recommend a good green tea powder brand from internet?
Thanks
This brand will help you make any dessert I hope this helps http://www.amazon.com/Matcha-Green-Tea-Powder-Antioxidant/dp/B00DDT116M/ref=sr_1_2?s=grocery&ie=UTF8&qid=1393692714&sr=1-2&keywords=green+tea+powder
hi
Thanks for helping others with your answer. 🙂
I used Matcha, it was delicious! =)
hi MiaLeigh,
Great choice ~~ Thanks 🙂
Hi.. i dont understand this direction
After 3 hours, mix the ice cream, and press it back down flat before you put it back into the freezer.
I dont have hand mixer, can i mix with spoon?
Sorry for dumb question
hi Agus,
Oh no~~ it’s not a dumb question at all.. Sorry that my explanation wasn’t clear. If you never made something before.. everything can be questionable..I understand that. So about your question..yes you don’t have to have a hand mixer for this recipe. you can use spoon or fork. Thanks